Territory



No Model.)

0. D.- LANE. GOLD WASHING MACHINE.

No. 275,777. Patented Apr.10,1883.

N. PETERS. Phu

' p of the same.

UNITED STATES PATENT @EETCE.

CHARLES D. LANE, OF ALBION, IDAHO TERRITORY.

GOLD-WASHING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 275,777, dated April'lO, 1883.

Application filed March 6, 1852.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OHARLEs D. LANE, of Albion,county of Cassia, Territory of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gold-Washing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of goldwashing machines in which the dirt containing the gold is, during the washing process, carried over or brought in contact with quicksilver-coated surfaces which retain the gold; and it consists in a certain improved combination and arrangement of instrumentalities for this purpose, which can best he explained and understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of so much of a goldwashing machine embodying my improvements as needed for the purpose of explaining the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section, on enlarged scale, of a portion of the sieve part of the-machine, representing the two inclined tiers'of perforated plates, their supports, the sets of-copper trays beneath the same, together with their guides and supports, all in the position which they occupy relatively to one another. Fig. 4 is a plan view, on a still more enlarged scale, of apart of one of the perforated plates. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the trays.

The apparatus consists of four sections, all properly secured together and lettered respectively t k h h. Part 2' is a wooden sluice of any desired length, through which the gold -bearing dirt is washed into the apparatus, passing from .the sluice i into. the inclined gradually-expanding chute k, which permits the material to spread out and conveys and distributes it equally into the two troughs or boxes h h, which are placed side by side and extend lengthwise of the apparatus. The one boxis a-counterpart of the other, so that a description of one will-answer for both. Each box contains two superposed parallel tiers of plates, to, the upper tier being set on the same incline with and so as to constitute in eiiect a prolongation of the slanting bottom of the chute k. The plates a, of which each tier is composed, are steel plates, set edge to edge. They are each three sixteenths of an inch thick, thirty-six inches (No model.)

wide, (in the direction of the length of the box,) and forty-eight inches long, (or crosswise of the box.) There are eight plates in each tier, making thirty-two plates in the two boxes. The plates in each upper tier are perforated with holes one-eighth of an inch in diameter and three-fourths of an inch apart, and in each lower tier the perforations in the plates are the same distance apart and three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter. The lower tier is set four inches below the upper.

The proportions above stated, as well as those that will be hereinafter specified with respect to other parts of the apparatus, are

those which have been found in the practical l working of the apparatus to give the best results; but it will of course be understoodthat the same may be varied without departur from my invention.

The plates of each tier are fitted into their respective boxes, and rest and are supported upon wooden cross-ties or pieces of timber 0,

(one and three-fourths of an inch by three and one-half inches,) mortised into the sides of the boxes h h, and situated at thejoints or meeting edges of the plates a, which are firmly fastened to the supports 0 by screws or other suitable means. Each box h and h is tightly closed below by an inclined bottom, the front portion of which is of steeper pitch than the rear part, as indicated in Fig. 2, for the purpose of hastening the downward flow of the water and refuse at this point.

Under each tier of plates there is placed a series of horizontal copper trays, b. Each tray is ten inches wide and forty-eight inches long, and hasits sides formed by turning up the copper plate of which it is composed an eighth of an inch on each side'and ahalf an inch on each end, as indicated in Fig. 3, and more plainly in Fig. 5. The tray, which has a flat, even, and true surface, is made of copper-plate oneeighth of an inch thick, and is re-enforced by an iron bar, 0, applied to the under side and extending lengthwise and centrally of the tray. At the point where each tray is to stand two parallel wooden cross-bars, d, are mortised into the sides of the box, and are so placed as to be separated by an interval which forms a guide-groove adapted to receive the tonguebar 6 of the tray. The trays are capable of being slid into and out of place through open- .upon the lower tier of plates to.

ings formed for them in the sides of the boxes,

and each tray, when inserted, is guided to its place by the bar 0,- and is supported and upheld by the cross-bars d. They thusvirtually form drawers, which can be pushed in or taken out from the boxes with ease and expedition. This arrangement is indicated in Fig. 3, wherein the sides of the box, together with the openings therein through which the trays are inserted, arerepresented by dotted lines, said openings being lettered b. In Fig. 2 the ends of the trays b are shown as exposed through these openings.

The trays, as above stated, are horizontal;

but in order to adapt them to the slant of the tiers of plates a they are arranged in sets of threes, as indicated in Fig. 3. Under each plate ((1 and between its supporting crosspieces care placed three trays in the same horizontal plane. In Fig. 3 a'full set of three trays is represented, together with a portion of the contiguous tray of the next adjoining set in front and rear. The set on the one side is on a level a little above and the seton the other side is on alevel a little below that of the central set. In other words, the sets are so placed as to gradually descend in steps, thus accommodating themselves to the inclination of the plates a. In each tier the trays are about three inches apart, and the distance of the trays from the plates a above should be about one and one-half inch. It \villbe noted that the trays of the lower series-are set so as to be opposite the intervals between the trays of the upper series.

The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows, it being of course understood that the trays are preliminarily coated with quicksilver: The gold-bearing dirt is, by meansot' water, washed in through the sluice From t'it enters to k, in its passage over which it gathers speed and momentum, and spreads out, so as to be distributed into each of the boxes h It. Here it passes over the upper plates a, which convey off to the tailor discharge end of the apparatus the larger stuff, and permit only thetiner matter carrying the gold to pass down through their perforations. The matter which passes down through the perforations drops into the trays below, and, after filling them, overflows over their sides It sifts in like manner through these plates into the second series of trays, from which it overflows and drops upon the inclined bottom of the boxes h h, by which it is carried off and discharged from the apparatus practically exhausted of gold, which will be found adhering to the interior' faces of the trays.

plates a and the trays band the size of holes in the plates shall bear such relation to one another that the sand shall be expelled from and the quicksilver retained in the trays, while at the same time the two are brought into in timate contact. This result is well attained by proportionin g the parts as hereinbefore specified. The particles of gold are caught by the trays, while the sand and other worthless matters are expelled by the boiling or eddyin g of the water in the trays caused by the small streams which pour from theholes in the plates a into the trays.

In conclusion, I would state that I am aware that flat amalgamatingplates have been placed beneath perforated plates in gold'washin g machines, and this I do not claim; but I am not aware that there has ever before been combined with a tier or tiers of inclined perforated plates a series of amalgamating-trays, oneseries for each tier, arranged and adapted to operate in the manner hereinbefore described.

- Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a gold-washing apparatus, the combination, with an inclined 0r sloping tier of perforated plates over which the gold-bearin g material is washed,.and the box or troughs containing said plates, of a series of horizontal amalgamating-trays set in step-by-step order beneath said tier of perforated plates, and arranged and adapted to co-operate therewith as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, with the supply-sluice and the box, of two superposed inclined or sloping tiers of perforated plates, and corresponding series of horizontal amalgamating trays arranged in step-by-step order beneath their respective tiers of perforated plates, these elements being arranged relatively to one another and for joint operation as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination, with the inclined tier of perforated plates and the box or trough containing the san1e,.ot' the removable horizontal amalgamating-trays arranged'beneath said plates, and supported in and adapted to slide crosswise of the box or trough, substan tially as and for the purposes set forth.

0. D. LANE.

Witnesses:

QHAs. 001313, B. M. MALLOR-Y. 

